Le meurtre
by KeiichiKiwi
Summary: As a string of murders affects the city, its group of investigators find themselves powerless to the killer. They soon find themselves gaining help from some very unexpected allies to bring down the murderer and return the city to peace.
1. Chapter 1

Tsunade sighed deeply, letting her warmth breath meet the cold air surrounding her on the city's wet sidewalks. The air was still moist from the rain, as surprising as it was to not be snowing in this weather. By this point, she was used to the short skirts and high heels. She had been doing it for 10 years, knowing it was dangerous, but it was a risk she was willing to take for pleasure. Of course, not the pleasure of being the prostitute most men believed her to be. Instead, she sought the pleasure of dragging them to the ground and flashing her badge to watch the expression on their faces change in an instant. A career like that never seemed to get old.

She walked along the alleys behind the old opera house, waiting for some perverted old man to pull his usual stunts. There was pretty close to nothing she hadn't seen among these streets, but she always had a few condoms and bullets with her just in case. Then, like clock-work, she heard a low voice from the darkness.

"Hey baby. Ain't you cold in that get up?"

She looked up at the back steps of the opera. The horseshoe that had been hanging there for as long as she could remember glittered in the moonlight and illuminated two figures. One was tall and slender with fire red hair and a smooth, yet strong face. The other was a bit shorter and more muscular with blonde hair that reached a little past his shoulders. He must have been the one that called out, judging by the cocky grin that spread across his slightly scruffy face.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, not expecting to be stopped by these unusually hormonal and obviously sexually deprived men.

"Don't you two have a job or something that you should be sleeping to get ready for? It's slightly past your bedtime on my watch."

The blonde laughed and stepped down to her level before approaching her.

"I used to be a soldier, yeah. Before I backed out for a real taste of life. And look what I got. A damn shabby apartment on the side of some old yutz's place where his dog pisses on my stoop. Not the high life I was expecting, y'know?"

Tsunade noticed the other man turn away and grunt. She put her eyes back on the blonde that was clearly examining her slightly over-exposed and exaggerated cleavage.

"If you have such a horrendous life, how do you expect to pay me?"

The blonde laughed again and focused his eyes on hers while he touched her cheek lightly with the back of his hand.

"I'll just pay you a different way, baby."

"Back off, Kurz."

The red haired man had leaned off the side of the building. His eyes were fixed directly on the other man.

"Stop being such a prude, Aya. We're not going to find another woman this easily."

Tsunade raised her hand and slapped away that of the man named Kurz.

"You won't get your hands on me, either. I hate to destroy your hopes, but you're under arrest."

Tsunade pulled the badge from her pocket and held it to Kurz's face.

"Pullin' a fast one on me babe? Not bad for a chick. But I'm not putting an arrest on my record sweetheart."

Kurz pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at her face. As Tsunade reached for her own gun, she felt something sharp prick her arm. She moved her eyes down and saw Kurz holding a knife directly over where her gun was held.

"When I said I used to be a soldier, I must have failed to mention that it was under the direction of Captain Teletha Testarossa. You won't trick me. Drop the charges, babe."

Tsunade flinched. Even in the cold weather, she felt a bead of sweat forming on her brow. Otherwise, the only warmth left on her body was the warm stream of blood flowing down her arm from where it was stabbed. Suddenly, a blade appeared next to Kurz's throat. It was slightly damaged with bloodstains running across it, showing quite a bit of use.

"I told you to back off, Kurz. And I hate doing things this way. But either drop your weapon or feel mine."

Kurz laughed, "Aya. You can't be serious. You don't make a very good assassin, and regardless…"

"And you never made a very good soldier, if you must know. Always begging for attention from the Captain…Flirting with any women you could find to tame your feeling of rejection. You're still doing that, Kurz. Because it tears you apart that the Captain chose Sousuke over you."

Kurz dropped his gun, which hit the ground solidly by Tsunade's foot. She looked at his other arm, shaking in fury, with knife still in hand.

"Leave my Captain out of this!"

Kurz thrust his knife toward Aya, but Aya grabbed his wrist and held it in place in front of him. In that second, Tsunade grabbed her set of handcuffs and locked them on the wrists of the plainly defeated ex-soldier Kurz. Aya looked at her, puzzled. She laughed slightly.

"I use these for more than one thing in my career."

Aya smiled back at her, sheathed his sword at his waist, and released Kurz's wrist. At that point, a small boy with red hair a bit more mild that Aya's approached them. He said nothing, but stared at them with a confused look upon his face. Tsunade turned to him, still holding onto Kurz.

"Are you lost? You shouldn't be wandering around places like this at night…"

His blank stare turned into one of almost fear.

"I'm sorry…My name is Daisuke. My house is right over there. This is just a faster way to get home…"

He nodded his head toward a building straight ahead and slightly off to the right. Tsunade nodded in response and looked to Aya.

"Aya, will you please escort Daisuke home? I would hate to see anything happen to him, and I trust he's safe with you."

Aya looked at the boy, then back at Tsunade.

"Of course. But be wise. No one should be out here, really. Not since the string of murders recently."

Tsunade threw the struggling Kurz to the ground on his stomach and stepped on his back to hold him. She gave Aya a puzzled look.

"Apparently you haven't heard. There have been two different murder chains going on. They say one is all men, the other all women. No one is sure if they're connected or not. But one thing is certain. It's not safe around here anymore. For anyone."

Tsunade absorbed his words while he and Daisuke walked away. She led Kurz to her car and drove off toward the station for much more reasoning than she had left with.


	2. Chapter 2

It was darker than usual in the office. With not even a fluorescent glow, the room was nothing but a black abyss except on tiny beam of light shot from a flashlight. A tall and fairly slender man stood with that flashlight in his hand, hunched over another figure. Kai moved the flashlight from the figure to the notes he kept scribbling on paper, then back to the figure. This was a very unusual case of suicide, and he had seen many things out of the ordinary before. Somehow, something wasn't lining up here.

The body seemed to be in fairly good condition. And so was the site where it was found. There was a bloody knife in his hand when they found him. But otherwise, everything was clean. And there were no cuts on the man that could have led to his death.

Kai flipped the switch to illuminate the room and turned off the flashlight, but continued examining the body. He heard the door open behind him. A tall and thin, yet slightly muscular man with blonde hair and glistening blue eyes stepped into the room.

"How is it coming? Have you found anything?"

Kai stood straight and looked at him.

"Nothing. Sorry, Link. But this cause of death isn't plain as day like the others usually are…"

"No cuts to kill him?"

Kai merely shook his head. Link walked over and joined him next to the pale corpse. He leaned in toward the face, which had an open jaw as though screaming.

"Kai, when you got the witness reports, did they hear any screaming?"

"No, why?"

"Then why does it look like he is?"

Link stretched a glove over his hand and traced the line of the body's lip while he looked into the mouth.

"Kai, look at this."

Kai leaned in closer.

"The mouth has some sort of adhesive around it. Almost like a duct tape substance. And inside the mouth…"

Kai examined the inside of the mouth. It appeared to be burnt, all the way down the esophagus to as far down as the two could see. Kai looked over at Link.

"…Acid?"

"Call Reno. I believe we have ourselves a homicide case."

Link stepped back and ripped open the man's shirt. No marks from a burn had spread to the outside, but there, on his chest, was a single curved line, almost like a half-moon, carved into his flesh.


	3. Chapter 3

Henrietta gripped the handle of her violin case with an almost eerie calmness. She had never known anything other than this life, though she had been trained much since the death of her old guardian, Giuseppe. He was the only one who had ever seen her as a person and loved her for what she was, so she fought only to avenge him now, though she was only a mere deputy of the force. Yet she was the only one able to handle the larger incidents.

Her footsteps sank into the soft ground beneath her feet. Things were unusually quiet, though there seemed to be a feeling of terror and shock overhanging the city, even on the outskirts where she was. She suddenly stopped and set her violin case on the ground. In the distance, in what appeared to be a shallow ditch of some sort, she could make out the faint outline of a body. She knelt beside her case and opened it, assembling the gun within it.

She approached the figure slowly, careful not to be in a position where she could be seen. But the figure did not move and seemed to just be staring into the abyss. She continued moving closer to it, purposely rustling to see if it would acknowledge her, but it just continued staring into darkness, leaned against a tree. She thought maybe the person was asleep, but as she neared her, she realized that her assumption was dangerously incorrect.

Leaning against a tree was the body of a fairly tall, fair-skinned woman. Jet black hair fell across her pale face and onto her naked shoulders. Her body had no coverage whatsoever, making it very easy to see the sloppy cut across her throat. Yet the most disturbing thing was on her head itself. Whoever had done this had ripped both of the woman's ears from the rest of her flesh. Immediately, Henrietta called the station to request Reno, the homicide investigator.

Upon his arrival, he stared at Henrietta before shifting his eyes to the woman's body. He realized immediately that it couldn't have happened shortly before. The blood stains dripping down her flesh were dry, though the body was still in a condition of no decomposition. With his command, the body was to be taken back to the station for examination, and his team took pictures of it and the site. He thanked Henrietta before another call came from his suicide investigator, Kai.

When he returned to the station, he was met by Kai, Link, and Tsunade, who all had their own story to share with him. He took Henrietta with him, and entered the conference room with the others.

Kai was the first to speak.

"I don't think there can be any correlation between the murders, although both killers were obviously psychopathic."

Link shook his head and scribbled notes on the paper in front of him.

"On the body believed to be a suicide, there was a single cut on the man's chest. However, it played no role in his death, leading me to believe it was more of a victory mark for the murderer. The victim was also fully clothed when we found him. This killer was very careful in their doing, covering their work and making us all believe that it was a suicide attempt until we examined it closely. The other killer, however, was very careless and made it a blatant homicide. It was obvious what she died from, having the cut on her neck. Whether the ears were torn off before or after death is irrelevant except in determining the amount of torture the victim had to undergo before being murdered. It is clear that the second victim was after something by raping the victim though. The question is, do these victims have any sort of relationship with the killer."

Tsunade gave Link a very concerned look.

"There was a man who mentioned these murders. But he didn't know anything other than the fact that they were happening."

Reno stared at the others in the room with him.

"We know nothing about these murders. There were no witnesses whatsoever, no kind of report. It was sheer luck we found either of them. Which leads me to believe that whether these murders are connected or not, the case is out of our capability."

Kai stood up, both hands slammed into the table.

"What do you mean out of our capability? We can't just let the murders continue! What are you getting at Reno?"

Reno gave him a very smug, yet somewhat nervous look.

"We're going to need recruits. The best around. Link, get the records of everyone in this city. I'll find our new team. And it will be up to you all to inform them of their duties and unite them by tomorrow night. Do not fail this. For all we know, the murderers could be claiming another victim as we speak."


	4. Chapter 4

Fakir leaned against the railing in the classroom, casually watching the other dancers. Though they were not even remotely close to the beginning class, they tripped and fell over one another as though they had just begun to dance yesterday. Fakir's teacher, Mr. Cat, stood by him and sighed deeply.

"Fakir, please. Show them."

Fakir pushed the black hair from his emerald green eyes.

"I told you. I'm in no mood to dance today.

"You haven't been yourself at all lately. Has something happened?"

Fakir merely shook his head and walked out of the building. The only joy he had recently was the sunlight bathing his skin, something he hadn't known in his previous days. He used to be a knight and a writer, willing to sacrifice anything for those he loved. But once those days had faded, he rested as a bounty hunter. He only recently sheathed his weapons to try and resume a normal life. Yet, he couldn't help but miss it.

Unlike most bounty hunters, however, he was on the opposing side. He lied in shadows waiting to eliminate his targets. And now, walking through the city normally, he felt out of his comfortable range.

He turned the key to his apartment and entered, closing the door behind him.

"Been a while, Fakir."

Fakir turned and saw a figure leaning against the wall. He looked strange there, his orange hair contrasting with the purely while wall.

"Kyo? How did you get in here?"

"You should learn to lock your windows."

Kyo grinned and nodded toward the window that was now fully open, despite the way Fakir had left it.

"So, let's talk. I need your help."

"Dammit Kyo. I told you, I'm done saving your ass. Or anyone else's. I gave up that life."

Fakir rustled through some papers, as if looking for something. He turned to Kyo, who tossed him a gun.

"If you gave it up, then why are you looking for that?"

Fakir eyed the gun in its holster before looking back up at Kyo. Suddenly, there came a knock at the door.

"Don't think you're off the hook, Fakir. Oh, and make sure you lock up this time."

Kyo grinned, waved, and bound out the window onto the rooftop slightly below it. Fakir walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was a tall man Fakir recognized to be Kai from the police station. Kai mumbled a few words, and the two of them exited to return to the conference room.


	5. Chapter 5

Yamato yawned, slowly waking from her nap. She opened her eyes as the sunlight fell over her face, informing her that it was already sunset. She crawled out of bed, only half awake, her skin receiving the cool air, covered only by her bra and underwear. She heard her lover in the kitchen and began to walk there, a grin on her face.

When she opened the door of the bedroom and stepped out into the light of the rest of the house, she saw her partner Kouya making a sundae.

Kouya grabbed a can of whipped cream from the counter and sprayed it at Yamato, giving her a beard of white foam beneath her chin. Yamato stared at her, an evil grin slowly forming on her face, as she grabbed another can and started spraying her partner, accidentally getting some on her own neck. Once she finally stopped, Kouya leaned in toward her and pressed her tongue to the flesh on Yamato's neck, removing the whipped cream from it.

Yamato blushed slightly. So many thoughts were running through her head, but she couldn't act on any of them but one. She reached behind her, slowly removing her own bra, and pointed the can of whipped cream at her breast. Kouya grinned slightly and pushed the can away.

"You don't need whipped cream for that, love..."

A small moan escaped Yamato's mouth as she felt Kouya's warm tongue on her skin. Kouya pushed her back into the fridge and held her there by her shoulder while Kouya's teeth sank into her otherwise pure complexion. Yamato's fingers sank into the back of Kouya's neck as she squirmed beneath the grasp of her partner. Yamato spoke quietly,

"Kouya...Shouldn't we clean you up?"

Kouya lightly kissed Yamato from her breast, across her collarbone, and up her neck to her ear, where she whispered,

"I think that would be a very good idea..."

The two moved into the bathroom, focused only on each other, as Kouya turned the water on in the shower. Yamato wrapped her arms around her partner's neck while Kouya kissed her cheek and slowly slid her underwear over her thighs and off. While Yamato stepped out of them, she pulled Kouya's shirt over her head.

Kouya slowly stepped into the shower, pulling Yamato with her. Kouya pinned her to the wall of the shower with her own body while she held the back of her love's neck. She pressed her lips to Yamato's. The hot water ran down her back while the steam rose to the edge of her tongue, which traced Yamato's lips until she surrendered her own tongue to meet her partner's. Kouya felt both the whipped cream and Yamato slide down her wet skin. Yamato's teeth reached Kouya's breast as she closed her jaw over it, causing Kouya to lose her balance and fall back into the shower door. Kouya gripped Yamato's shoulder while she spoke, almost in gasps.

"I think we got all of the whipped cream."

Yamato grinned at her.

"Maybe we should dry off then."

Kouya ran her fingers through Yamato's hair.

"You'll be just as wet by the time I'm done with you…"

Yamato smiled, shut the water off, and kissed Kouya before leaving the shower, almost tormenting Kouya. She went into the adjacent bedroom and pulled the blanket back, lying on her back and then covering herself with it. Kouya followed immediately after, turning the light off in the bathroom and making the entire house dark. She moved the blanket just enough for her to get under it next to Yamato.

Yamato began to doze off, exhausted from the day's events. But she soon felt Kouya's body holding hers down. She couldn't help but smile and release a small moan, which seemed to make Kouya tense a little.

Suddenly, Kouya lifted herself and the blanket from Yamato's body, shocking her slightly as the cold air of the room met her flesh. She searched through the darkness for Kouya, but found nothing. Then she felt something wet and warm on her inner thigh that worked its way up to her groin. She clutched the side of the bed, writhing in pleasure, while Kouya's tongue entered her body. Kouya's teeth reached her flesh, a moan and gasp escaping her throat as her body pulsed toward her partner. Pulling back, Kouya gently slid her fingers into her partner as Yamato moaned and gripped Kouya's back. Flesh on flesh, the two joined and parted with one another for a seemingly perfect night, finally resting in each other's arms as the sweat evaporated slowly from their bare bodies, a peaceful sleep falling over both of them.

Kouya woke first in the morning, smiling at the sight of the sleeping Yamato in her arms. She pressed her lips to Yamato's and held them there for what seemed like several minutes before slowly rolling away and climbing out of bed. She put clothes on, kissed Yamato on the cheek, and walked out into the living room.

The sun had only risen about an hour before. Yet suddenly, Kouya heard a knock at the door. A puzzled look came over her face as she walked over and answered it.

A young man with reddish-brown hair stood in her doorway. "Are you the teacher they call Kouya?" Kouya merely nodded, confused by the man. "I have orders to bring you back with me. My name is Kai, and I work for the police department. The headquarters believe that you will be of great use to us." Kouya's shock must have shown enough to Kai as she looked behind her toward the bedroom where Yamato slept. "Don't worry. Anyone living with you will join us as soon as the others come to retrieve them."


End file.
